Skip to main content
to lift one's spirits

to lift one's spirits

8 3.9
To make someone feel happier
  • idiom
translation icon : animar
  • If you are feeling sad and down in the dumps, try exercising to help lift your spirits.
  • try to lift one's spirits
  • help lift one's spirits
  • way to lift one's spirits

Examples

Synonyms

to cheer
vsto lift one's spirits
392 1.0

To make someone feel happier

makes other people feel happier rather than oneself
to make (someone) feel better
vsto lift one's spirits
329 1.5

Help someone feel happier when they are sad or sick

is about causing happier feelings, not physical healing
to cheer up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
234 1.4

To feel happier after being sad or to make someone feel happier

covers general acts that increase happiness, not only recovery after sadness
to lift
vsto lift one's spirits
215 3.7

To help someone become better off or more confident

focuses solely on causing happier feelings, not changing status
to lighten
vsto lift one's spirits
104 3.4

To make people or a situation feel more cheerful

is about increasing happiness without changing seriousness of mood
to lighten up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
69 4.1

To become or make someone feel more cheerful and relaxed

is focused on producing cheer without implying relaxation
to make someone smile
vsto lift one's spirits
54 1.0

Cause someone to feel happy or amused

means increasing general happiness, not just causing a facial expression
to uplift
vsto lift one's spirits
23 3.2

To make someone feel happier and more hopeful

focuses on simple happiness rather than inspiration
to lift up
vsto lift one's spirits
19 3.7

To make someone feel happier and more hopeful

is about making someone happier without stressing strong optimism
to brighten up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
17 2.7

Make a room or person more cheerful

focuses on causing happier feelings, not on changing appearance
to buck up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
14 6.3

To become or make someone more cheerful and confident

aims simply to make someone feel happier, not necessarily braver
to hearten
vsto lift one's spirits
13 5.5

Make someone feel happier or more confident

means making someone happier without necessarily offering encouragement
to bring joy
vsto lift one's spirits
12 2.3

To make someone feel happy

focuses on simple cheerfulness rather than deeper emotional pleasure
to brighten one's day
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
8 2.8

To make someone feel happier or more cheerful

makes someone feel happier in general, not only temporarily
to boost morale
vsto lift one's spirits
5 3.7

Make people feel more confident and positive

focuses on making an individual feel happier rather than lifting group morale
to spirit up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
3 7.0

Make someone feel happier and full of energy

is about making someone happier but not always about energy or confidence
to warm the cockles of one's heart
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
2 7.5

To make someone feel happy and warm inside

is about ordinary happiness rather than deep emotional uplift
to make someone's day
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
2 3.0

To give someone a lot of happiness, often by a small kind act

means making someone happier in general, not necessarily hugely
to lift someone's spirits
vsto lift one's spirits
1 3.9

To make someone feel happier when they are sad

is used more broadly to mean making someone happier in general
to raise someone's spirits
vsto lift one's spirits
1 3.4

Help someone feel happier

is more casual and general when describing mood improvement
to turn a frown upside down
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Informal
1 6.0

Help someone stop being sad and start smiling

describes making someone happier without only reversing sadness
to buoy up
vsto lift one's spirits
5.3

To make someone feel more cheerful and confident

makes someone happier but without highlighting increased confidence
to jolly up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • UK
8.2

To try to make someone feel happier when they are sad

means actually making someone happier rather than merely trying
to chirk up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Archaic
8.6

To make someone feel happier or more lively

focuses on general happiness rather than lively energy
to chase away the gloom
vsto lift one's spirits
5.5

Make someone feel less sad and more cheerful

is broader, increasing happiness not only removing negative feelings
to keep someone's pecker up
vsto lift one's spirits
  • Archaic
9.9

Stay cheerful and hopeful during hard times

is about making someone feel happier rather than staying cheerful oneself

Antonyms

32 4.1

To make someone feel sad and lose hope

16 4.4

Make something less strong or noticeable, for example sound and feeling

How Happy

to elate
19 6.4
to lift one's spirits
8 3.9
to cheer up
  • Informal
234 1.4
to comfort
172 1.0

Surface Forms

lift one's spirits infinitive
lifted one's spirits past participle
lifting one's spirits present participle
lifts one's spirits third person singular

Morphology

lift + one + spirit

The meaning 'to make someone feel happier' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'lift' (raise) with 'one's' (possessive) and 'spirits' (mood/energy). The metaphor of raising someone's mood is common across languages and follows transparent compositional logic that a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would understand.

Etymology

Lift one's spirits comes from a simple image: to lift is to raise something up, and spirits means a person's mood. So, imagining someone's mood being raised helps you remember it means 'to make someone feel happier'.